


can i try again (and again and again)

by orphan_account



Series: spacin' out [1]
Category: Roswell New Mexico (TV 2019)
Genre: College, Established Relationship, Fluff, Future Fic, M/M, Post-Series, nontraditional students
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-11
Updated: 2019-12-11
Packaged: 2021-02-17 23:26:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 951
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21751438
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: The first night in their new apartment everything is in boxes and Michael floats the little tea candles five feet in the air because, as he was lighting them, Alex said, “Wow I guess setting the whole building on fire is a great way to get out of our lease,” and Michael lifted each eucalyptus scented wax round with his mind, eyebrows raised in challenge.
Relationships: Michael Guerin/Alex Manes
Series: spacin' out [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1585294
Comments: 13
Kudos: 75





	can i try again (and again and again)

**Author's Note:**

> college au, technically, where alex and michael enroll in college as nontraditional students in a post-series future. this is short but i like this idea and future alt ending for them, so will probably indulge myself in this au again. thanks for reading chaps !  
> title from Pink in the Night by Mitski

The first night in their new apartment everything is in boxes and Michael floats the little tea candles five feet in the air because, as he was lighting them, Alex said, “Wow I guess setting the whole building on fire is a great way to get out of our lease,” and Michael lifted each eucalyptus scented wax round with his mind, eyebrows raised in challenge. Alex shook his head, fighting a smile.

This isn’t a romantic occasion, Alex had said. Alex wanted to unpack. Alex wanted not to spend money on delivery pizza because they still had left over gas station chips and jerky. Alex was a fucking stick in the mud.

But now, lying on the floor in the middle of what was, supposedly, the living room, bellies full of greasy pepperoni and cheese, the world alight with tiny flickering flames, warm scent diffusing the cardboard box smell, Michael can sense his victory.

“Stop,” says Alex.

“I literally didn’t do anything!”

Alex closes his eyes as Michael kisses his chin, his jaw, the fragile pulse point on his neck. “I can feel your smugness. Radiating.”

Michael is feeling pretty smug. He snuggles Alex a little closer, just to be obnoxious. Alex sighs, predictably, and smiles, delightfully. “Sorry I’m a great fuckin’ boyfriend.”

A laugh gets caught somewhere between Alex’s throat and mouth, choking on it somewhat. Michael digs his fingers into Alex’s side, smothering him with his own body, pressing his own laughter into the warm curve of Alex’s neck. He can sense the smile without having to see it, but draws back to stare at the perfect, subtle line of Alex’s mouth, grinning and glowing brighter than every candle, than every light in the world. Michael drops his head against Alex’s chest, not wanting to acknowledge the words stuck in his throat.

“You’re ridiculous,” says Alex, his fingertips sliding slowly, softly along Michael’s spine. Michael closes his eyes, and that’s where they sleep, the first night, wrapped up in each other, under stars of their own making, two bodies melted like wax into one another.

-

(“Don’t say it.” Michael tries not to look as he peels the cool wax off their hardwood floors.

Alex hums thoughtfully, eyebrows speaking volumes. Okay, maybe Michael fell asleep before de-levitating the candles and _maybe_ they all went spilling across the ground but nothing actually caught on fire and frankly? That’s still a win.)

-

In the winter, Michael gets a job at a little cafe on campus. It’s not a huge cash flow, but it’s easy work and between their grants, Alex’s pension, and the mysterious money deposited in their joint account after Alex holes up on his laptop for twelve hours ( _it’s nothing, just some IT work_ , is what he says, and Michael rolls his eyes and pretends he doesn't know that private agencies are happy to outsource the specialized work Alex can do) it just means they can buy movie tickets without balking at the price (which they still do, but Michael buys Alex the family sized package of Red Vines without wincing, just smiling as Alex chews the candy straws during a dumb action flick, contentedly holding hands on the armrest).

He wears a little purple apron and fixes the busted espresso machine every time it goes haywire, so his manager loves him and doesn’t care if he leaves fifteen minutes early whenever Alex rolls in at night.

Michael tosses the apron into the laundry and shoots a grateful _thank you_ at his twenty-year old coworker, who flips him off with both hands.

“Hey handsome, you here all by your lonesome?” Michael asks, swaggering up to Alex’s table with two americanos in hand. Alex makes grabby hands for the cup. Michael tuts. “C’mon sugar, I ain’t running a charity here.”

Alex levels him an annoyed glare, mouth twitching. Michael waves the rich coffee smell under his nose.

With a put upon sigh, Alex heaves himself upright, stepping up to Michael. He slips his hands around Michael’s waist, obliging him with a gentle kiss. Michael chases it when he pulls away, both of them smiling.

“I really can’t believe they haven’t fired you yet,” says Alex, after they sit, Michael dragging a chair obnoxiously loud across the floor to cozy up with Alex.

Dierdra, his fellow barista, shouts, “Trust me, I’ve tried.”

Michael ignores her, because the only other customers in their cafe are two gamers in the corner with huge headphones engulfing their ears.

Michael hefts Alex’s knees over his lap, running his hands over Alex’s calf. “How was your day?”

Alex groans, allowing the massage, and inhales deeply from his coffee cup with eyes closed. He starts in on a rant about his dumb as fuck professor who won’t even listen when Alex points out a flaw in an algorithim. Michael, in turn, chats about the awesome things he exploded today, most of them on purpose, teasing a few laughs out of Alex. They sit there until it’s almost closing time and no amount of coffee can keep the tiny, sleepy yawns from cracking Alex’s jaw every few minutes.

“C’mon you,” Michael pats Alex’s thigh, “off to bed with you.”

“But _mo-om_ ,” says Alex, deadpan. “All my friends are going to a party.”

“And if all your friends stayed up all last night to study text mining would you? Oh wait a minute that’s right you already did…” Alex huffs in defeat, allows himself to be bundled up by Michael before they leave the shop, Michael tugging the beanie over his eyes and kissing his nose.

They walk home hand in hand, Alex shouldering both of their bags, and they both carry a comfortable silence on the crisp, lovely evening.


End file.
